Primary Care Pharmacist

Job description Job responsibilities The post-holder is a Primary Care Pharmacist.

The Pharmacist acts within their professional boundaries, working alongside the rest of the practice team which includes PCN Pharmacists.

They will improve patients health outcomes and the efficiency of the primary care team by providing direct, accessible and timely medicines.

The post-holder will be an integral part of the general practice team, as well as part of a wider pharmacist network and multi-disciplinary team. This includes being a conduit of patients medicine information into and out of hospitals. They will work to optimise medication issues to improve patient care and safety, and support clinical staff in the management of patients.

As part of their employment, the post-holder will ideally possess independent prescribing, equipping the Pharmacist to be able to practise and prescribe safely and effectively in a primary care setting.

Mission statement

Wrekenton Medical Group aims to deliver the highest possible quality of care to all of our patients in a responsive, supportive, courteous and cost-effective manner. We will:

Provide a service which puts patient welfare at the heart of what we do

Work within the framework of NHS Primary Care Services to provide professional medical, nursing and other services which meet the identified needs of patients

Promote best practice through utilising specialist expertise within the practice team and externally and encouraging the continuous professional development of all members of the practice team

Nurture a culture which is innovative, forward looking and adaptable

Take into account the evidence provided by scientific and medical research in our treatment.

Our Core values

Patients: Putting patients at the heart of everything we do.

Quality: Providing the highest standard of care and treatment.

Integrity: Operating within an ethical framework through openness and transparency. Being accountable for our actions.

Compassionate: Being compassionate about enhancing caring for all of our patients whilst adhering to equality and diversity.

Working as a team: Valuing the contribution of every team member and building a mutually supportive environment.

Learning and improving: Adapting to change, building on achievements and developing our services.

Primary key responsibilities

The following are the core responsibilities of the Clinical Pharmacist delivering health services.

a. Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in managing hospital letter discharges and reviewing prescribing acute and past medications

b. Be a prescriber, or completing training to become a prescriber, and work with and alongside the general practice team

c. Provide specialist expertise in the use of medicines whilst helping to address both the public health and social care needs of patients at the organisation and to help in tackling inequalities

d. Provide leadership on person-centred medicines optimisation (including ensuring prescribers in the practice conserve antibiotics in line with local antimicrobial stewardship guidance) and quality improvement, whilst contributing to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services

e. Develop relationships and work closely with other pharmacy professionals across the wider health and social care system

f. Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols, clinical research with medicines, liaison with specialist pharmacists (including mental health and reduction of inappropriate antipsychotic use in people with learning difficulties), liaison with community pharmacists, and anticoagulation

g. Each Clinical Pharmacist will have access to an assigned GP clinical supervisor for support and development

h. Act as the point of contact for all medicine related matters, establishing positive working relationships including with community pharmacies

i. Consult patients within defined levels of competence and independently prescribe acute and repeat medication

j. Receive and resolve medicines queries from patients and other staff

k. Manage a therapeutic drug monitoring system and the recall of patients taking high risk drugs, i.e., anticoagulants, anticonvulsants and DMARDs, etc.

l. Review medications for newly registered patients

m. Improve patient and carer understanding of confidence in and compliance with their medication

n. Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation

o. Encourage cost-effective prescribing throughout the organisation

p. Implement and embed a robust repeat prescribing system

q. Provide advice and answer medication related queries from patients and staff

r. Organise and oversee the organisations medicines optimisation systems, including the repeat prescribing and medication review systems

s. Improve the quality and effectiveness of prescribing through clinical audit and education, to improve performance against NICE standards and clinical and prescribing guidance.

t. Develop yourself and the role through participation in clinical supervision, training and service redesign activities

u. Ensure appropriate supervision of safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs. Apply infection-control measures within the practice according to local and national guidelines

v. Provide subject matter expertise on medication monitoring, implementing and embedding a system

w. Support clinicians with the management of patients suffering from drug and alcohol dependencies

x. Actively signpost patients to the correct healthcare professional

y. Review the latest guidance, ensuring the organisation conforms to NICE, CQC etc.

z. Be aware of duties and responsibilities regarding current legislation and adhere to practice policies and procedures on Safeguarding Adults and Safeguarding Children

aa. Provide targeted support and proactive reviews for vulnerable, complex patients and those at risk of admission and re-admission to secondary care

bb. Handle prescription queries and requests directly

cc. Undertake all mandatory training and induction programmes

dd. Contribute to and embrace the spectrum of clinical governance

ee. Attend a formal appraisal with your manager at least every 12 months. Once a performance/training objective has been set, progress will be reviewed on a regular basis so that new objectives can be agreed

ff. Contribute to public health campaigns (e.g., COVID-19 or flu clinics) through advice or direct care

gg. Maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area at all times

There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks, this will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels

Wider responsibilities

In addition to the primary responsibilities, the Clinical Pharmacist has the following wider responsibilities:

a. Support the delivery of QOF, incentive schemes, QIPP and other quality or cost effectiveness initiatives

b. Improve the data quality of medicines records and linking to conditions

c. Deliver training, mentoring and guidance to other clinicians and staff on medicine issues

d. Working in partnership with pharmacists and clinicians at local hospitals, improve the safety and quality of prescribing after discharge from hospital admissions and attendance

e. Provide leadership and support to prescription administrative/dispensary staff

f. Work with community pharmacists, hospital pharmacists and other stakeholders in the medicines supply chain to improve patient experience and manage incidents

g. Undertake any tasks consistent with the level of the post and the scope of the role, ensuring that work is delivered in a timely and effective manner

h. Duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility